Aircraft commonly include one or more batteries that must be regularly removed and replaced for maintenance and service purposes. These batteries are typically heavy (e.g. 90 lbs.) and are located in areas of the aircraft that are difficult to access. For example, in the Gulfstream G650 aircraft, one battery is located in a forward section of its interior and two additional batteries are located in an aft section of its interior. In the past, a worker would manually carry the battery up or down a ladder to load the battery into the aircraft or to remove the battery from the aircraft. Because of the battery's weight, this was undesirable. To address this issue, some workers now use a lift located outside the aircraft to raise the battery into the aircraft or to lower the battery out of the aircraft.
While this solution is adequate, there is room for improvement. This is because the lift is located outside the aircraft and therefore does not help the worker move the battery through the aircraft's interior. To move the battery through the interior of the aircraft, a technician must lift and carry the battery by hand. While carrying the battery, the technician must move through small pathways in the interior by utilizing non-ergonomic positions while avoiding bodily injury and damage to sensitive equipment already on-board the aircraft. For these reasons, it is undesirable for a technician to carry a battery by hand.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a load assembly and a method for lifting a load into an aircraft. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.